The present invention relates to a support cushion to be disposed on a chair or a seat for gently supporting a person sitting thereon. Especially, the support cushion of the invention is designed to provide lateral as well as back support for a hospitalized or invalid person who is unable to support himself in a sitting position.
A healthy person can freely move by himself, and for example, when he sits on a chair, he controls himself without effort not to fall down from the chair. However, some patients can not even move by themselves, and require the aid of other persons even to assume a sitting position. If these patients sit on chairs, they can not hold their sitting position. Namely, they may fall down from the chairs if they lose their balance. It is, however, important to let these patients move away from their beds and sit on chairs for the benefit of their health, such as to prevent the patients from suffering bedsores. Presently, in hospitals, such patients are held in chairs by straps to prevent the patients from accidentally falling from the chairs.
When a patient sits on a chair, a cushion may be situated between the patient's back and the chair to make him comfortable. Further, it is preferable to support side portions of the patient so that the patient can be securely and comfortably held on the chair.
U.S. Pat. No. De 159,483 discloses a baby sit-up cushion, which comprises a central portion in the form of a triangular column, and two semi-circular side members connected to the central portion. The central portion should be located at a corner, such as of a sofa, crib and so on. Otherwise, the two side members can not be located properly relative to the central portion for supporting a baby in position. It is to be noted that the baby sit-up cushion can not be used for supporting a patient on a chair due to its structure.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,197,255 and 3,348,880 disclose back supports, but they are different in structure from the cushion of the present invention and are not suitable to support patients on chairs.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a support cushion which can be located on a seat or a chair to gently support a patient thereat.
Another object of the invention is to provide a support cushion as stated above, which is simple and can be formed easily.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.